Waterfront targets to complete lobby renovation by year-end

CEBU, Philippines - Waterfront Philippines Inc (WPI) flagship hotel, the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino (WCCH), announced that its multi-million-peso lobby renovation of the hotel will be completed by end of this year.

The lobby renovation of the WCCH is part of the company’s P300 million major renovation project, which includes the improvement of its convention center, and function rooms.

“I am proud to announce that 50 percent of the first phase has now been completed. The project is progressing as planned – even better than we imagined, as we are even ahead of schedule,” said WPI assistant to the President Weslie Gatchalian.

Each phase is expected to cost around Php100 million, of which all the funds allocated for the said project will be sourced from internally generated funds.

At the moment, two out of four phases of the lobby renovation project (Phases A and B) have already reached completion. In Phase A, the renovation covered part of the lobby’s right wing, closer to the Casino facility and the Hotel’s anchor restaurant, UNO, where new marble flooring was installed, and a new canopy was constructed to serve as the Casino entrance. Phase B consisted of renovating a portion of the west wing of the lobby, the section closer to the Convention Center, where new marble flooring was also installed, and a canopy was likewise built; which will later serve as the Convention Center entrance.

“We are extremely excited to embark on this multi-million renovation project and welcomes the new face of Waterfront Cebu City Hotel, as this will surely enhance our present product and service offerings that will eventually yield to better guest experience and revenues,” Gatchalian said.

He further added that a part of the entire renovation plan was allocated to the expansion of the casino, resulting to an addition of 2,305 square meters of gaming area.

WCCH is presently home to the largest PAGCOR-operated casino in the Visayas-Mindanao region in terms of floor area.

“This will surely bring positive signal to both local and foreign tourists alike. It has always been the aim of Waterfront Cebu City Hotel to be the premier integrated entertainment complex of the Visayas-Mindanao region,” he said.

The renovation period of the first phase is expected to reach its completion in December of the current year, while the succeeding phases will start taking place during the first quarter of 2012.

WPI, through its Waterfront Hotels and Casinos brand name, is currently the largest Filipino-owned hotel chain in the country today. It operates five first class hotel-casino properties located in the major cities of Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Davao. In Manila, it operates the Manila Pavilion Hotel & Casino and G-Hotel by Waterfront, its latest venture in the boutique hotel category. In Cebu, it runs the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino and the Waterfront Airport Hotel & Casino Mactan. In Davao, it operates the Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao.

Cumulatively, the group runs close to 1,600 guest rooms, employ 1,670 employees, and have over 13,500 square meters of convention and gaming space. 2010 audited financial statements of the company shows the company registering Php1.9 billion in gross revenues, with a gross operating profit of Php389 million.

The flagship Cebu City hotel contributed 40 percent of gross revenues of the Group.